Two women competing for the 2018 Iditarod have top 5 finishes

The Iditarod is famous for it's legendary women, from Libby Riddles becoming the first woman to win the race in 1985 to Susan Butcher winning Iditarod four times and race legend

The 2018 race is no different with 16 women competing for the Joe Redington, Sr. trophy.

Race records show that since 1973, five women have finished in the top five including three women competing in the 2018 race: Aliy Zirkle, DeeDee Jonrowe and Jessie Royer. Jonrowe scratched Tuesday in the Rainy Pass checkpoint but both Zirkle and Royer are heading toward the ghost town of Iditarod from the Ophir checkpoint.

Royer and Zirkel are also the two fastest women to finish the race with Royer laughing that Zirkle has a two-minute edge over her.

Both mushers have illustrious race histories, Royer has finished six times in the top-ten with her best finish being fourth in 2015. Royer's 2017 race saw her break the nine day mark for the first time, netting her fifth place. Meanwhile, Zirkle also has six top ten finishes and has finished runner-up on three occasions, most recently in 2014.

The fact Royer and Zirkle are competing in a sport typically thought of as male-dominated doesn't seem to bother Royer. She said that it wouldn't have "crossed our minds that we are a female in the top ten, we're just here because we love running dogs and we love what we do."

Zirkle seems similarly focused on the immediate trail ahead: "I don’t ever really look ahead. I do have a strategy that lines out how I want to run the race, but I don’t look at how to get to Kaltag, or gosh I really look forward to Unalakleet, It just seems so far away that if you look at it like that you just overwhelm yourself."

Royer though describes how it can be positive for young girls watching the race."The sky is the limit for both boys and girls, but definitely it is good for the girls to see...they can do it.”